The Booth Family Eat Well for Less?

Are you going to help us do some shopping? You really shouldn't let

the three-year-old do the shopping for you.

Gregg Wallace and greengrocer Chris Bavin are on a mission

to help families get their food spending under control.

Weekly shopping over the course of a year - about ?13,000.

Ah! Oh, my God!

Finding out when you should save your pennies...

This is cheaper than what we usually buy

and we'll definitely buy it again.

..and when you might need to splash the cash.

I don't think the cheaper stuff tastes very nice.

They're challenging families to try new foods... Argh!

..by transforming their kitchens...

Should I open it?

Ah!

It's like a science fiction set.

..and investigating everyday food.

Well, I certainly wouldn't fancy that with some mash and onion gravy,

for sure. The great British public have their say.

That is a budget bean.

Will Gregg and Chris prove that you can eat well for less?

A healthy saving of 2.25.

If they don't like the food swaps then it's all going to go belly up.

This week we're in Lancashire with the Booth family...

You're on my team so get geed up.

..who are guilty of overbuying with impulse purchases...

Definitely having it. ..and hoarding food.

There is over ?1,000. You're joking?

Gregg and Chris have their work cut out...

This is what it should look like after you've been shopping.

..changing habits of a lifetime.

Bin it, bin it, bin it, bin it!

We're with the Booth family from Chorley in Lancashire.

I've got the ball! Yeah!

Council manager Howard and marketing manager Jenny have two sons,

nine-year-old Geo and six-year-old Arran.

Ah!

Dad Howard is a passionate foodie. Crispy chicken shawarma.

Thank you. Yum, yum, yum.

And he loves being the chef.

Cheers. Cheers.

I do most of the cooking in the house.

Jen does the sort of stuff out the freezer,

although she's mastered a Sunday roast now,

so that's two things she can cook.

And full English breakfast. And cereal. And cereal.

But, when it comes to the food shopping,

Jenny and Howard are like chalk and cheese.

I shop for food with a list

and it's written aisle by aisle depending on the shop.

I'm super, super, anally organised

and, then, Howard's the opposite of me.

My style of shopping is anarchy.

I've never had this before.

I don't know, when I go past a shop, what will happen.

Pork and black pudding, so give it a go.

Thanks a lot.

Howard's impulsive habits have the food bills racking up.

Like I've heard of that, sumac.

I've no idea what it is or what you'd use it for.

I'll go for it.

Daddy's home. Any goodies? Any reduce-ies?

While Jenny tries to be cautious, she has her own shopping affliction

which may not be as economical as she thinks.

If I see something on offer, I'll just think,

"Oh, I'll buy that and put it away,"

because the supermarkets are really good at the buy one, get one frees,

and I will... I'll stock up.

And that's led to jam-packed cupboards.

We can't even fit this in the cupboard.

Right, where is this going to go?

There, it fits.

Gregg and Chris are at the family's local supermarket,

lying in wait for their next big shop.

I tell you what does boggle is the amount of offers there are.

They're wondering if, true to form,

Jenny will be hunting out the multi-buy deals.

I defy the majority of people to come in

and just get exactly what they intended.

But it's so hard to ignore all the attention-grabbing signs,

like red price stickers. We think we're getting a good deal,

but is that always the case?

I wouldn't have taken any notice but, now I'm thinking about it,

because they've stuck a big red price sticker on it,

I think it's a bargain.

Why are they telling me so boldly that that is ?2?

Because it must be good value.

I've come in and I've never meant to buy strawberries

and now I'm buying them because it's got a big red sticker on it.

See! Look! You're literally falling over the deals in here.

The Booths have arrived at the supermarket to do the family shop.

The key to every successful shopping trip is having a list.

Jenny's got hers at the ready. This is looking promising.

What do we need?

Oh, dear. Keep up, Howard.

While Jenny and Howard stock up,

two new sales assistants are watching their every move.

Oh, that's way too many, way too many. Courgettes and carrots.

We only need one, and one or two carrots. Give me the list. Stop it.

Uh-oh! A tiff in aisle two.

From the safety of the storeroom,

Gregg and Chris watch on as Jenny's lured to the end-of-aisle display.

OK, offers. Oh, Howard, we need cheese.

Drawn to the half-price offers.

Is that a good price?

That's more expensive but you need less of it. It's better.

They wanted cheese, they've gone straight to a special offer. Yeah.

They can't compare the prices because there's only three cheeses up there.

Round the corner there might be

a six-kilo pack of Cheddar for 20 pence.

Could well be.

Fallen at the first hurdle,

but maybe now she'll start looking up and down the aisle.

Beans and sausage. Whoo-hoo! It's on offer.

Buying things that you don't need

just because they're on special offer is not saving money.

It's still spending money.

I think she met Howard in a pub. He had an offer sticker on his head.

He must have had, yeah! Buy one, get half price!

Look out! Howard's got the trolley and he's going rogue in aisle four.

These things in jars that I don't know.

Look like tomatoes or something.

Look, look, look, little glance.

I'm having it.

Definitely having it now. He's hiding it. Oh, no.

Anything else, Howard?

Get a bit of that.

Surprise, surprise, he grabs whatever takes his fancy.

What's this made out of? It's all right.

I've got a meal plan in my head

and I know what we've got in the fridge and what's going to go off.

Now, Jenny's just said she has a clear meal plan in her head.

I don't think that's the case, to be honest.

But she's got a shopping list! Surely a good sign

for someone avoiding foods they already have at home?

What's that? What's that? Is that frozen sausages?

We usually have three bags in the freezer. Two are on standby.

How many bags in the freezer, Jenny? Three.

How many sausages are the family going through?

I mean, I like a sausage as much as the next man.

That might be pushing the point.

I bet, when we go round their house, they've got a Dachshund.

Just beer, wine and dog food now, and then we're done.

Right. That's two for 18. OK.

Right, I think they're heading for the till.

Well, it's fun and games before the checkout,

but little do the Booths know what awaits them.

Howard, Jenny, we've just been watching you shop.

Have you? You haven't? Nice to meet you! This is a bit...

You all right, mate? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, nice to meet you.

So, it looks like a fairly big shop.

Shall we get it rung up and see what the total is? Yeah, go on.

It might look like a big shop, Chris, but this is just one of many.

Can we have some bags, please, Gregg?

And a lot of what they bought wasn't actually on Jenny's shopping list.

What's that? That got snuck in. And he did well to get that in, as well.

It must have been one of these.

And it somehow managed to fall under a couple of other products.

Oh, did it? So the sausages feature quite heavily. They do. They...

Is that a particular brand? Because you can cook them from frozen.

Yeah, that's why it's convenient.

How many times a week are you going shopping? Three or four.

The average four-person family spends ?96.30 a week

on food and drink,

but what's the damage on this one shop for the Booths?

The grand total,

it comes to 154.17.

You've winded me. You have, yeah. I do. I feel quite winded.

That's 60% more than the national average.

I'm pretty much shocked.

Well, rest assured that, with a few tweaks, I think we can save.

Do it. JENNY: Yeah, you're on. Yeah, absolutely.

We can do it together. Shall we? Yes, please, yes. Come on.

Might as well make a start, mightn't we? Oh, this is heavy.

You've got nearly 200 quid's worth of shopping in it.

It's bound to be heavy.

Before the Booths have a chance to put their shopping away,

Gregg and Chris take a sneaky look round their kitchen.

I've got a question for you.

What's the chances they've got an empty fridge?

I would like to think it's absolutely bare,

but, watching the way those two shop, I'm not so sure.

You do fridge, I'll do cupboard. Let's go.

They're not prepared for what they find.

Gregg, this is full of stuff they've just been and bought.

You're kidding me? That is a full-up fridge.

This is what it should look like after you've been shopping.

Not just before you've come home with over ?150 worth of food.

This is phenomenal.

Look!

For crying out loud, do we really, really need this much rice?

They'd be much better off buying

a great big two-three-kilo bag of rice.

Beans, beans, beans, beans!

There's beans everywhere.

I know it may be a crazy concept to them,

go to the supermarket, buy some food and eat it!

Steady on, Gregg.

There is no point buying this stuff for inside-cupboard decoration.

Just put tinsel in there.

I tell you what, without getting angry with them,

we need to have a really good, long chat with them.

The Booths' shopping and hoarding is out of control.

They need to change their ways and save money, now more than ever.

Our bungalow at the moment is two bedrooms

and the boys share a bedroom.

The boys can't have sleepovers and Geo really likes drawing,

but he hasn't got room for a desk.

If we saved money, I'd like to build an extension on the house.

That would make a real difference to our quality of life.

We need that extension.

Gregg and Chris are determined to help the family save money.

It's time for a much-needed wake-up call.

So, sorry for ambushing you earlier.

Here we are with all the bits and pieces that you bought today.

We've had access to your kitchen, right? Yeah.

We've had a quick calculation.

In terms of money, not on this table, how much is in that kitchen?

I reckon... 200.

No, no, no. I reckon ?250.

250 quid's worth? Our little stockpile, yeah.

I've got, in cash, what you've got.

No! There is over ?1,000... You're joking! Oh, my God!

..worth of food. And that's conservative.

That is a conservative estimate. JENNY: God, I'm shocked.

That is money that we need now, this month.

This amount of money's worth of food in there.

Why don't you check before you go out?

I'm shocked seeing that. I didn't know.

I think I probably will now

because it just doesn't make sense straight away.

That's just ridiculous. That is mad. Yeah.

And that's not all, as Chris forces the Booths to face up

to how much they're spending on food.

I have here your receipts... JENNY: Oh, God.

..from last week. Oh, no.

And this comes to, in one week,

it comes to a total of ?260.

Nearly three times more than a typical family of four.

Over the course of a year, it comes to about ?13,000.

Oh, my God! Why am I getting up to go to work in the morning?

That is an incredible amount of money. Yeah, that's terrible.

That's not funny. JENNY: No. ?13,000 a year on food is...

It's almost criminal, isn't it?

When you think, you know, some folk don't get any, so that's not right.

I don't feel good about that.

I wouldn't beat yourselves up too badly.

You're not buying pink champagne and caviar,

but it can very easily start to get out of control.

And if we could look at saving you some money,

what difference could that make to you?

Well, we want an extension on the side of the house.

If we could save ?40 a week,

then we could afford the mortgage and get the extension. OK.

We're going to do our absolute level best to save you as much as we can.

Do it. JENNY: Awesome.

What are the main areas here that we're going to work on?

Jenny, although she likes to think

she plans her meals and shops for bargains,

is overbuying,

buying the wrong things

and this meal plan, I've...

I'm yet to see it. I don't think it exists.

Howard's the cook. He loves to cook.

I'd like to have a chat, a cup of tea with Howard

about using up some of the stuff in the kitchen.

All of the stuff in the kitchen, actually.

The Booth plan is very clear.

But how much can we actually save them?

I guarantee we can save this family ?50 a week

which is enough to build their extension.

I, without a shadow of a doubt, can save this family ?70 a week.

Whoa! You're more confident than me.

I can't wait to get my teeth stuck into this. Do you know what?

This family really need our help and I am really up for this.

What are you? The Caped Crusader?

If that makes you Robin. Come on, then.

We're taking away the Booths' usual shopping and replacing it

with different brands disguised in plain packaging,

hoping to open their eyes to new varieties

that could save them money.

Most items are cheaper, but others are more expensive,

because sometimes it is worth spending the extra.

Ooh! The kitchen's...

..ah. No, no, Geo... No, not the tape. Oh, my God. Ah!

Oh!

Oh, my God!

Burgers. Oh, snacks. Cans.

Arran's all right, he's got sausages and ketchup, he'll be fine.

Wow, look at that ketchup. Ketchup.

Someone's keen to get stuck in.

Your beer. SHE LAUGHS

Tomatoes. Look, they've put two beers in the fridge for you. Two?

'It's like a science fiction set.'

All these white labels, everything changed to just plain.

To really test their palettes,

some foods haven't been swapped at all,

but the big question is, will the family recognise them?

Jam. Yes, I know my jams.

That's your department. I know, that's, that's...

..that is not the best jam in the world. Isn't it?

Looks can be deceiving, Howard. That's the jam you always have.

Once the experiment is over,

the boys will reveal their new weekly shopping bill,

which will all depend on how many of the new foods

they want to keep.

The orange juice looks really impressive. It does, it looks posh.

Doesn't it? Looks like hotel orange juice. Yes, it looks nice.

It might look posh, but actually this is a value product.

We're working with dietician Lucy Jones,

who's an expert at knowing where you should save

and where you should spend when it comes to food and drink.

I meet a lot of people

that spend an awful amount of money buying fresh fruit juice,

thinking they're getting something nutritionally superior.

I think most people would be really surprised to hear

that actually, there's not a lot in it.

If you look at the nutrients that we buy juice for,

things like vitamin C, across the board,

they're all pretty much the same.

So, if they're all good for us, why the price difference?

You've got premium-priced juice that's not from concentrate

at ?2.48 a litre

and juice from concentrate that's typically under a pound.

Many people believe that juice from concentrate

is full of additives and sweeteners.

Well, we've got news for you.

Gregg's in Somerset at a juice bottling plant.

You're going to show me how to make orange juice from concentrate?

Yes, just going to add some water, a bit of aroma,

then you've got juice from concentrate.

So, that is just purely the concentrate of the juice, nothing added at all?

I mean, that is thick. Right, so I add this.

Give it a little stir first.

Concentrate is the juice with the water removed.

This is done to make it easier to transport.

To return it to its original strength,

Gregg adds six parts water.

Look at it as restoration.

Because aroma is lost during the concentration process,

oil is added, but only oils that were once part of the orange.

Where would orange juice be without squirting orange juice into it?

Absolutely.

So, there's no chemicals gone in there? No.

No added sweetener? No. Nothing to make it last longer? No.

No preservatives, no sugar, no colouring.

The most unnatural thing in here is me.

HE LAUGHS

Regardless of price,

all orange juice is 100% fruit juice

and their similarities don't stop there.

Once the concentrated juice is reconstituted by adding water,

it's pumped into blending tanks,

then put through a heat exchanger to kill bacteria before bottling.

This process is exactly the same for concentrate

and not from concentrate.

How long does it take

a single beautiful orange... Yes.

..to go from Brazil... Yeah.

..to a pot of your juice in my supermarket? Yeah, OK.

Well, it could be up to nine months from picking through to consumption.

Nine months?

Wow! Is that the same for concentrate and non-concentrate?

Yes, it can be.

I want to find a difference, John, and you're not helping.

Sales of juice that's not from concentrate

have risen dramatically over the last ten years,

as we seem to believe it's a superior product,

but one of the main reasons it's more expensive

is actually down to the cost of transportation.

This lorry, how much concentrate is in here... Yes.

..and how much orange juice will that make?

There's 28 tonnes of concentrate in here,

and that will make about 160,000 litres of juice.

160,000 litres.

So, how many of those containers

would we have to bring in of orange JUICE to make 160,000 litres?

Just under six.

That's not cheap. No.

Is basically the idea of concentrate

to make the whole job cost effective?

That's really how it started, yes.

That's why juice from concentrate

can be over ?1.80 cheaper than not from concentrate.

With many things in life, you actually get what you pay for,

but I'm not sure that's true of orange juice,

because orange juice from concentrate is a good product

and it's value for money.

But can your taste buds taste the difference?

Gregg's taken to the streets to find out.

Could you taste some orange juice for me? I will.

I want you to taste them for me,

tell me what you think... Yeah. ..and which one you prefer.

It's blue straw for the pricey, not-from-concentrate brand leader

and pink straw for the budget-friendly concentrate.

I like the blue. It's a lot sweeter than the pink one.

I prefer the blue one.

I prefer blue. I think it tastes nicer.

So, the premium brand orange juice has gone down well,

but how about the value option?

I like the pink one, it had more texture to it and more taste.

The pink one tastes better, more flavour.

I prefer the pink one.

It was a close race, but the premium brand edged out in front

with one more vote than the value option.

Some prefer not from concentrate, some prefer the concentrate,

and that doesn't surprise me.

There is a huge difference in the price,

but there is no difference to what's in it.

They don't have to feel guilty about buying the concentrate.

Orange juice is just one thing on the menu in Chorley,

where the Booths are about to begin trialling their unknown foods.

First breakfast, so it's all a bit exciting, but a bit...

unusual.

Do you want cornflakes or wheat cereal?

You need more than that. That's a bit sparing, Arran. Ha!

Sensing some suspicion here,

but swapping their premium orange juice for a value option

is a saving of ?1.83 a litre.

The Booths get through four litres a week,

so that's a massive ?380 a year saving.

Looks very posh. Let's give it a go.

So, we have to find an orange juice that everybody likes, so...

The orange juice is good.

I think maybe slightly better, it tastes good.

Yeah, not oversweet, not too thin.

It's all right. Oh, there's always one.

How about the rest of the meal?

These cornflakes are... are good, they're all right.

They're not as big, but taste fine.

Their regular branded cereal sets them back ?1.80 a box,

but this one's only 31 pence.

That's a huge ?1.49 saving.

Go on, Howard, let's see what you think of the jam then. OK.

The jam's the only thing we haven't swapped.

The jam's OK, I'm not mad about it.

It's just not great, I don't think.

Gotcha.

Thought you knew your jam, Howard.

If the Booths were to keep these new breakfast foods,

it would shave a sizeable ?11.19 off the weekly bill.

Nearly ?600 a year.

Overall, the breakfast's really good, the orange juice was OK,

the jam was OK, everything else was good.

So far, I'm happy and the kids said we're all still alive,

that's quite important.

Over the next few days,

the Booth family continue with their food swaps,

test-driving all manner of new products.

Doesn't smell particularly good.

Ooh, these are nice and soft, where are these from?

Bacon, cream, not sure about this.

I think this spaghetti is much thinner than our usual.

It might be thinner,

but it's also 76 pence cheaper than the brand you normally buy.

But what's the verdict on the spaghetti carbonara?

That's really good.

If it is cheaper, then I would definitely swap and have this.

Onto a British staple, a roast dinner.

They're Yorkshire puddings, are they good?

Yes, because it's crunchy.

Yorkshire puddings are nice. Nice and crunchy.

And a great saving, as they're ?1.26 cheaper.

I think they're good, they're crispy.

The more foods they like, the more savings they'll make.

Saving the Booths money is not just about finding them new foods.

Gregg and Chris also want to change the way they shop.

I'm on a meal plan revolution, Gregg. Oh, yeah? What is it?

I'm glad you asked me that.

For me, the cornerstone of saving money

is planning your meals

and then only going out and buying what you need to make those meals,

and if you do that, you will save money.

Righto. Righto, that's the idea you've got to sell to the Booths.

Definitely.

I feel as though my card's been marked.

I don't know what they're going to do today, I ain't got a clue.

They might see if we've changed. I don't know that we haven't.

The freezers are still full.

I am dying to get in the kitchen with Howard the family chef

and use up some of the stuff that they've been stockpiling.

I reckon they might not have to go shopping for a fortnight.

That'd save them 500 quid. I mean, seriously.

As long they don't jump out from anywhere,

I'll be quite happy. That would be good, yeah.

I'd rather they just came through the gate.

DOORBELL RINGS

Well, they have learned to do that at least.

Yay! All right, bro? Hiya. Come on. No worries, mate.

Let's go in. Go on, you go first. It's straight down to business

for revolutionary Chris and willing follower Jenny,

who has so far failed to meal plan effectively.

Some people are a little bit scared of meal planning.

No, I'm not. What happens is I have my meal plan,

Howard comes home on Wednesday, looks at it and goes,

"Nah, I don't fancy that, I got this instead."

OK. We'll have to get him signed up to this, I'm very keen for this to happen.

I thought something that might encourage him to go along with this

is maybe give him,

we'll call it, like a Howard free day, or Howard's day.

Yeah, definitely.

And then he can go off-piste or he can stop

at the shops on the way home from work and... Great idea.

..and go with whatever he fancies. Maybe the weekend. In the meantime,

Gregg wants Howard to make meals

using ingredients already in his cupboards.

We're going to do dinner. OK.

What you got?

Loads. HOWARD LAUGHS

Tonnes. Yeah. Tonnes. Right.

You've got plenty of pasta and tomato sauce.

That's obvious, that shouts out bolognese straight away, doesn't it? Yeah.

What meat have you got in your fridge?

We've got some minced beef in.

If you want to use up the mince, we can either go spag bol,

or we can go meatballs - meatballs and spaghetti?

Er...

It'll be the meatballs then.

Let's finely chop an onion, through the stem,

always through the stem, because that means you can handle it.

Let's hold it, three cuts in there,

three or four down like that...

and then...

..there you are. Got you.

You're making me cry.

It's not the onions, it's you. HOWARD LAUGHS

Crunchy chicken Monday. The boys will be very happy with that.

That's a very good, concise start. Yeah.

Jenny's taken to meal planning instantly.

Tuesdays are slightly different because my mum,

bless her, yay, super nanna, she feeds the kids on Tuesday. OK.

You've got to enjoy it, you've got to want to eat this, so...

I think, yeah, bolognese, yeah. Yeah?

Right, wonderful. Onions in.

Garlic in and while those gently cook,

now that we've provided you with the food and you've got a clear plan,

how are you getting on with not being allowed to run off to the shops?

Oh, I struggle a bit, I'm like a leashed animal.

Why do you want to go? What's the fascination?

I just don't like being told what to do and sort of controlled.

There's no reason other than that, I just want to go out

and try something.

You can always, when you're writing a plan,

leave a little bit of space for experimentation. Yeah, yeah.

We'll do it with the stuff in the cupboards, like you said. Mate...

that is genius.

So, Thursday?

So this is a night again where the kids might eat early and we'll eat later.

In terms of saving money, I think we must really try,

for the majority of meals,

you're having the same thing if you can,

you're having the same thing if you can,

that really does represent saving, and it saves you time.

What about a nice big casserole, or shepherd's pie, or lasagne,

something you can put in the oven, forget about, add some veg or salad to it?

Yeah, maybe some beef or pork, I don't know.

Yeah, some kind of casserole, yeah.

GREGG SINGS Howard the chef! Howard the chef!

Got to be a bit Italian, Howard, sing some Italian songs.

HOWARD SINGS Onions, onions, what you going to do?

Onions, onions...

for me and you.

BOTH: La-la-la-la-la-la... La-la-la-la-la-la!

La-la-la-la-la...

I think you've got a hit on your hands, boys.

So, Saturday is this...

This Howard's free day. ..Howard special. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

..so then Sunday... Oh, roast dinner all the way. ..yeah.

When you've ascertained what it is you need to make these meals,

before you even consider leaving the house or going to a supermarket,

you cross-reference the list of things you need... Mm-hm.

..against what you already have.

Yeah, I thought I was doing that in my head, but obviously not.

I mean, I've got a shop and I think you might carry more stock...

Do you need some anchovies? Yeah, I think I might!

Nice.

Really nice, mate.

And the meatballs are done.

Boys, dinner!

Ready to serve?

Born ready.

A meal for six made entirely

from ingredients from the Booths' cupboards

and there's plenty more where that came from.

Ooh!

Daddy, thank you. There you go, mate. Thank you very much.

This looks lovely. So, Howard, how was that, cooking with Gregg?

I think I've taught him a lot. STIFLED LAUGHTER

What do you like, Arran?

I like everything. Oh.

But what will the family make of Jenny's afternoon work?

OK, this is...

our family meal planner.

There we go. Ooh...

GREGG: Howard, look at Saturday, look at Saturday.

Saturday's my day.

This is just in principle and we thought that it would be fun

if you all sat down together.

I wouldn't normally plan, but I can see the benefits of doing it.

As long as I can plan with you and we've got a spare day.

OK. There you go.

I understand the meal planning's about saving the money.

If I get a day or two where I can do what I want,

then I could stick with it.

The saving money's important.

What about a toast to the new plan and the new regime? Yay! Hooray!

Cheers... And that wasn't so painful after all.

Like most Brits, there's one thing Jenny can't live without,

a daily cup of tea.

You smell everything, don't you, for quality? It's funny.

And as it's the most widely consumed beverage in the world after water,

we thought it needed careful analysis.

So we've drafted in some thirsty bowlers from north London

to rate six different cuppas... GENTLE APPLAUSE

..without knowing what they are, of course.

Yeah, we always get tea, that's one of the attractions,

you can come up here and make yourself a cup of tea.

It has to be a distinctive, bold TEA flavour,

not something that's bland and dishwatery.

I would rather pay a little bit more and get a really good cup of tea.

But do you need to splash out to get a decent brew?

Ah, tea, tea.

Us Brits get through 165 million cups a day,

so it's a big saving if we can find a value brand we like.

Up for scrutiny are...

ASDA Smart Price, the cheapest at just 27 pence for 250 grams.

Tesco Original at ?1.15.

Market leader Tetley, costing ?2.29.

Twinings English Breakfast at ?4.49.

And at the top end of the market, Tea Pigs,

costing a massive ?15.15 for the equivalent weight.

First up, the most expensive.

I think it's got a slight twang to it.

It was a bit tangy, but I think it had a flavour.

My teeth felt funny afterwards. Didn't like it at all.

So, which will hit the mark with our bowlers?

Gosh, there's no colour in this at all. No. Very little there...

Oh, I'm going to abandon that one, people.

You shouldn't tolerate tea, it should be a pleasure, shouldn't it?

Moving on...

It's got a nice flavour. It was yummy.

I thought it was nice, it was mellow and nice, sort of warm flavour.

And the outright favourite?

In first place...

Who was? The tension mounts.

..was Tesco Original.

APPLAUSE

So, the mid-range supermarket tea came out on top.

In second place, Twinings English Breakfast.

Third was ASDA Smart Price, the cheapest offering,

fourth, Tetley, the brand leader,

and in fifth place, Tea Pigs.

I was surprised, yes. Tea Pigs I have actually bought in the past

because they look so good, but they came last, I can't believe it.

It was an interesting afternoon

and I found out quite a bit about tea

and what I like and what I don't like.

The conclusion?

You don't need to take out a second mortgage

to enjoy a good cup of char.

In Chorley we've swapped the Booths' leading tea brand

with the taste test winner.

That's the world's biggest tea bag.

It doesn't fit, there's a flaw.

Howard's the one you have to impress on the coffee, it's me on the tea.

We've got high hopes.

OK, it looks a little bit off colour, a bit greyer than the other,

my usual tea, but we'll taste it, we'll give it a go.

You just have black, don't you? Just looks the same to me.

Let's try it.

Ooh, that's going down well.

I don't like that as much. Oh. That's a definite swap.

I don't like it.

It tastes dusty.

I was going to say dusty. It does.

I was going to say, mine's dusty. It tastes like dust. Yeah. Yeah.

Do you think this is the cheap one they sweep off the floor when the posh one's bagged up?

THEY LAUGH Well, maybe it will grow on them

when they find out it's ?2.49 LESS than their usual brand.

As Chris and Gregg saw in the supermarket,

the Booths love their sausages, getting through around 24 a week.

But they're not alone, because alongside bacon,

sausages are a firm British favourite.

Chris is in Chorley visiting a local family-run butchers

to see if there's any difference between their sausages

and mass-produced brands.

He's brought with him

one of Britain's top-selling mass-produced sausages.

They're ?3.50 for a dozen. Right.

So how does that compare in terms of cost to yours?

Oh, they're ?3.98 for a dozen.

We're not actually looking at a vast difference in price. No, no.

Tremendous difference in quality and texture and taste.

But are we getting more banger for our buck

for that extra 48 pence?

First up for analysis, a leading brand.

So, this one...

says it's got 42% pork.

If that's pure, prime pork, that's OK, isn't it?

Yeah, but there's pork and there's pork.

It can be a connective tissue, which is gristle, basically.

Gristle is tough elastic tissue.

It's generally removed during processing,

but it can end up in our meat,

and although it's not harmful, it's not pleasant to eat.

A layer of gristle running along there, gristle in there,

gristle under there, we have to remove all that,

but in the machinery that they use in manufactured sausages,

that can all go in and it's all mixed in as a paste.

This, for me, surely that doesn't make it into a sausage

that people are feeding their kids day in, day out, does it?

That's definitely gristle and that's a gland in there,

that will be shoved in with the rest.

I certainly wouldn't fancy that with some mash and onion gravy, for sure. No, not really.

What's the difference between what they'd be using

and what you would have in your sausages?

This is our type of meat, it's just purely meat off the shoulder,

it's 72% pork.

The coarseness of the meat

shows you've got yourself a quality sausage.

Cutting into the mass-produced one is very revealing.

There's a real, obvious difference here.

The texture, the colour, the consistency... Yeah.

..this is very much more a paste... Yeah.

..whereas this has still got a real texture...

You literally see the pieces of meat in there,

where you just couldn't find it there, it would be impossible.

The butcher's sausage has a much higher meat content

but is more expensive,

and with sausages accounting for over 850 million meals every year in the UK,

Chris has some important questions for dietician Lucy.

I went to a fantastic butcher's in Lancashire,

but I want to see how they compare nutritionally

to a mass-produced leading brand.

One way to distinguish between the two sausages

is simply to cook them in a grill that's designed

to get every inch of fat off.

We can then visually see how much fat

collects at the bottom of the tray.

And the less fat that comes out, the better.

Five minutes later...

SIZZLING

Wow. Look at the difference in that.

Those little bits there... Oh, yeah.

..and this HUGE amount is off our mass-produced sausage.

But it literally is a couple of drops

compared to what looks like an Olympic swimming pool amount of fat,

that's disgusting.

So, what does that actually tell us though?

That tells us that the mass-produced supermarket sausage

was swimming in fat and oil, with very little meat content.

If we cooked that in any other way,

loads of that would still be in there. Urgh.

Yeah, it would. And remember, that is only the fat that's come off ONE sausage

and one of the problems with the fat that we get

in meats like sausages is it's more saturated fat than good fat,

so that means it's really bad for our heart health.

Loads of people love sausages. Are they really that bad?

Well, they are categorised as a processed meat,

which means there is quite good evidence now

linking them to bowel cancer risk,

so as much as we can, we should be limiting our consumption,

so, trying to keep them as a treat food every now and again

is better than including them on a daily basis.

If you really can't live without sausages in your life,

what you could do

is start alternating them with vegetarian sausages.

These are actually a Lincolnshire sausage made out of soya protein.

OK. And actually most of us would benefit from increasing our consumption of soya,

because it helps to reduce our cholesterol.

Great advice, but it's the butcher's sausage that's won Chris round

and he's convinced the meat-loving Booths will like it too.

My butcher's sausage worked out at only 50 pence per dozen more

than one of the leading brands,

and you've got such a vastly superior product,

that must be the one to go for.

Fingers crossed. With Jenny out for the evening,

Howard is making his son Arran's favourite meal.

I'm preparing tea for the boys,

sausages, potatoes, broccoli, mushy peas.

And only the potatoes haven't been swapped.

They look like butcher's sausages to me.

They do look good, they're slightly different sizes.

Little sausage, big sausage.

Somebody's put them together with love for us.

Howard, your enthusiasm deserves a celebratory drink.

It's Friday, normally a couple of beers while I'm cooking.

And we'd never deprive you of your Friday night treat.

HOWARD LAUGHS For the chef!

Been waiting for that one.

It's a swap that could save ?2.00 a pack.

But what he doesn't know is...

it's alcohol free.

That's all right. I needed it.

Good sign.

Now can you tell whether we've swapped your tinned veg?

We like mushy peas, that's why the dog's named Mushy Pea.

It's quite a staple in our house.

First impressions, you've got me on this one,

I don't know if they're what we normally have or not.

They do look a bit watery...

and not...not particularly mushy.

We'll have to see what they taste like on those.

At 16 pence, it's a saving of 34 pence a tin. Bargain.

How's that beer going down?

Cold, refreshing...

but it's a bit gassier than normal, I'm sure.

It's not quite as good as normal.

Not as much...

beery-ness.

Mmm, you could be onto something.

Here you go, put it on the table. OK. Good boy.

Put the tomato on the table!

Geo! Come on, tea's ready!

Even with pricier, better-quality sausages,

there's still a ?4 saving across the whole meal.

That's over ?200 a year.

There you go.

What do you think of the sausages, Professor Sausage?

I love them! Let's try one.

They are good. Yeah, I like those, yep.

The gravy tastes nearly the same as the normal one. Does it?

The peas are watery and I don't think they're as good as normal...

But what do you think, Arran?

Yeah, I like the peas. You like the peas? Good.

And what do you think of your tomato sauce? Is it good? Yeah.

Mmm. The ketchup's way better than the old one.

Is it?

Cha-ching.

The sausages, I love them.

I really did love them.

'The potatoes were just really nice.

'I don't think they were the same, but they were really nice.'

The worst bit was the peas.

Tea was a success. Er...

There's hardly anything left at all. Thumbs up.

The Booths get through seven to ten loaves a week

and usually buy freshly baked or a premium brand,

which can be three times the price of a value option.

Chris and Gregg want to know

if bread is a product we need to spend money on.

How do you feel about bread?

Certainly I feel guilty buying the standard sort of white sliced.

You know when you're in a sandwich shop and they go,

"Oh, do you want on white, or brown, rye, or wholemeal?" Whatever.

I always feel obligated to go, you know,

"Oh, yeah, wholemeal," or whatever, when probably deep down, I'm going,

"I think I'll have it on white".

I've stopped eating it as much, because somebody told me it bloats you,

and other people say, you know, it's quite fattening.

Sales of bread are in decline,

but Lucy's on hand to reassure us with a few surprising facts.

Lucy, can you teach us about bread? Because obviously, we know nothing.

Does bread bloat me? Does it make my belly bigger?

No, eating too much bloats you.

People with an actual wheat intolerance

or things like coeliac disease can suffer with bloating

as a result of consuming bread,

but that's a real, real minority of the population

and actually most of people's bloating

is either due to hormonal fluctuations, irregular meals,

eating too much and stress.

Are you feeling hormonal, Gregg?

LAUGHTER

Is it bad for us? No.

Bread's a really important part of our diet.

It contributes about 20% of the amount of fibre we eat,

it's a really valuable source of calcium,

it's a rich source of iron...

So, hang on a minute, eating bread generally isn't bad for us? No.

I think bread has got an unfair bout in the media recently

and actually the industry itself

has gone a long way to improve the composition of bread,

so if you look since the mid-1980s,

bread now is actually about 40% lower in salt than it was then.

We've got a lot of different types of bread here.

From a nutritional perspective, which one would you recommend?

This thinly sliced, crusty one, I presume? LUCY LAUGHS

Well, the first thing to say is they would all be a really good choice for your health.

There is slightly higher calcium in the white,

slightly higher iron in the brown,

but it's not going to make a huge amount of difference.

Is it worth sort of mixing and matching between,

like, a wholemeal and a white bread?

I think that's a great idea,

it's a way of getting the...the children used to

having occasional brown bread without there having to be

a blanket rule that one size fits all.

And wholemeal will also boost your fibre intake,

important for gut health and reducing risk of illnesses

such as heart disease and stroke.

Let me get this right - there are breads all over the table,

some as much as ?1.35, ?1.40.

This cheap white one here is 47 pence.

There is no reason at all

why I can't buy the value sliced white bread,

nothing wrong with it at all?

No, nothing wrong with it.

And in some cases, a third of the price? Yes.

Buying value white or brown bread

could save the Booths around ?300 a year.

In Chorley, the food swap experiment is drawing to a close

and most of the food's been going down well...

I'd normally have a beer at this point,

but I'm not drinking that muck.

..apart from Howard's no-alcohol beer.

He's off duty as Jenny takes over the kitchen, making cheeseburgers.

The boys like it and this is something I can do.

The Booths' premium-brand burgers

have been swapped for butcher's burgers,

but can they tell?

They're either super-super-mega-mega-cheap things

that you get in a burger van late at night after too many sherbets,

or they're from a butcher's counter, so I'm not sure.

In the Booth household, you can't have a burger

without a tasty bit of Cheddar,

and as Gregg and Chris saw in the supermarket,

despite a huge range on offer,

Jenny and Howard are drawn to popular brands.

Howard, we need cheese. Is that a good price?

That's more expensive, but you need less of it.

It's better.

We eat loads and loads of cheese, so we'll have some cheeseburgers.

If that's cheaper, we might keep that one.

The boys like cheese - I won't even ask if they want a cheeseburger, the answer will be "yes".

Keeping the cheaper cheese and burgers

would give the Booths a yearly saving of nearly ?125.

Right, Geo, Arran. Come and sit down.

Oh...!

If all goes down well, the savings made will pay for the Booth boys

to have their own bedrooms.

That burger's good.

It's different - it's different to what we usually have.

Arran, do you like it?

I like it.

I think these are much better than normal. Yeah.

Yeah, I really like those.

I prefer our juicy, thicker, normal beef...frozen beefburgers.

That's not the spirit, Jenny.

If you were to keep the swapped burgers, cheese, relish and crisps,

you'd save ?5.94 per meal.

That's over ?308 a year.

I enjoyed that meal more than normal

because Jen did the cooking for a change, which is nice,

and it tasted great.

The cheese was good -

it's not as strong as I normally like,

but it still tasted fine, yeah.

My only worry is that beer's rubbish, don't like it.

At least you didn't make a fuss about the cheaper Cheddar.

Let's see if the British public agrees.

There's just time for one final taste test.

So smile, please - it's cheese.

And who better to lend us their palates

than these discerning construction workers?

I like strong cheese, good flavour, plenty of "oomph",

if you know what I mean?

When I buy cheese, I prefer to buy the strong cheese.

I would buy good-quality cheese and nothing cheap.

You pay for what you get.

But do you?

Mild, mature or vintage,

Cheddar is the most popular cheese in the UK,

making up over 50% of the market.

So let's hope we find a goodie that doesn't break the bank.

On test, ASDA Smart Price,

the cheapest at ?1.14 per 200 grams,

Tesco Everyday Value at ?1.50,

Cathedral City, a leading brand,

costing ?1.82.

Pilgrims Choice, another popular brand,

but dearer at ?3.22.

And Black Cow Cheddar

with a hefty ?7.50 price tag -

sold at Fortnum Mason's, don't you know?

Bit dry. Bit dry.

Nice taste, nice - strong.

After a couple of bites, a couple of chews,

it started to mellow out a bit.

Not bad.

So will any of these cheeses give our tasters nightmares?

That's strong. Right strong.

Really soft, creamy, melts in the mouth -

that's a good cheese.

Even though it's strong?

Even though it's strong.

I think that's the cheapest.

I'm afraid to tell you it's the most expensive.

It just...it doesn't taste very nice.

And the value option.

The flavour lasts a little bit longer

in your mouth, doesn't it? Yeah.

It is creamy, though, isn't it?

The more you have, the better it is.

But which one is best?

The results are in - here we go.

LAUGHTER AND CHEERING

The cheap one! Smart Price.

ASDA Smart Price - what a shock.

I can't believe that. I can't believe that.

So the Smart Price Cheddar wins the day,

with popular brand Cathedral City in second place.

Third, Black Cow, the priciest offering,

fourth, Pilgrims Choice,

and in fifth place, Tesco Everyday Value.

Hard cheese, matey.

That's nice to know that you can buy cheaper to get a nicer product.

Le Grand Fromage has spoken.

When it comes to mealtimes, the Booths have been

in the capable hands of Gregg and Chris.

Ta-da!

Some have gone down well...

It's really yummy. Oh, good, Geo - we've got a fan.

Others, like the veggie sausages, were a flop.

I don't think I like the sausages that much.

The sausage is awful.

It's crunch time for Gregg and Chris

as they head to the Booths for the final time.

Euston, please, mate.

Food is really important to this family,

and we've made some fairly big changes.

It's important to them, but then so is saving money,

it's vitally important to them.

The Booths will only save money on their final shopping bill

if they decide to keep a significant amount

of the food and drink we've swapped.

I'm hopeful that when Gregg and Chris shows us what we've been eating,

that we've done the right things.

I hope we don't just like all the expensive stuff.

It's ultimately down to them. If they don't like the food swaps,

if they won't stick to a food plan,

then it's all going to go belly up.

I know, and we will end up looking pretty foolish.

It's scary. It's scary, because it might not work.

I really hope that we can save this family some money.

Well, boys, the moment of truth is close.

How did you get on with the food swap that we set up?

I enjoyed it.

The proof was that most of it got eaten, so that's good.

Do you think it was harder or easier than you thought it might be?

It makes you more aware of what you're eating.

We became analytical scientists, obsessed with what we eat,

constantly thinking about everything.

It's challenging the norm, isn't it?

Everyone goes along, does the same thing all the time,

so, yeah, it's challenging what you do and why, yeah.

Shall we show you some of the stuff we swapped

and some of the stuff we didn't?

Go on, dying to know. Go on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm scared that I've been mugged. Oh!

We like to keep you on your toes,

but only to prove it's good to try new things.

Let me start off, if I can,

with something you really didn't like.

The jam.

Wasn't mad-keen on the jam.

The jam's OK, I'm not mad about it.

It's just not great, I don't think.

It's exactly the same jam that you've always had.

Oh, right.

I've always hated it!

LAUGHTER

"I don't know why we buy that!"

It's a difficult question for me. Are you going to keep the jam you used to like

and then didn't like once you thought we'd swapped it?

No, we're getting rid of it.

Not all of breakfast bombed.

HOWARD: Whoa!

Yeah, nothing wrong with them. How much cheaper are they?

Yeah, keep them. Yeah, keeper. Whoa, yeah, yeah.

I wouldn't pick those up in that packet normally, so I'm...

I've got "mug" written on my head now.

Once you challenge people's perceptions,

the box would put you off... Yeah, it would.

What's inside it is fine. They are flakes of corn.

We're keeping these? Yes. Whoo-hoo! Whoop, whoop!

Swapping the usual brand saves another ?77 a year,

but what about the all-important orange juice?

Right, let me show you what you drank.

This is orange juice from concentrate,

but this one is ?1.83 cheaper than you buy.

That's a huge amount.

We drink quite a lot of orange juice, so that's a great saving.

That's a keep for me. Yeah, definitely, yeah. Let's keep that.

Good move, Howard.

You get through four litres a week,

so that's a yearly save of over ?380.

The vegetarian sausages didn't go down well.

The sausage is awful.

But what did they think of the butcher's meat sausages?

Sausages.

Yes, very important to our household, sausages.

We did in fact substitute your sausages. Mm-hm.

These are actually from your local butcher. Oh, right.

They're way better. Way better, fresher, better quality,

they just felt like a sausage worthy of a main meal.

And do you think they'd be dearer than the ones you normally buy?

Yes, definitely. Yeah.

You are right - they are slightly dearer, and only by 50p.

Wow, that's really good.

They're a vastly, vastly superior product.

So are we going to keep our local butcher's sausages?

Yes. Definitely, yes.

Well done. Well done, good call.

They're more expensive, but sometimes it's worth paying more.

So you cooked burgers one night... I did.

..again, from your local butcher. Yay!

Do you think they'd be dearer? Dearer or the same.

They are, in actual fact.... Wow.

HOWARD: Oh, that's good, isn't it?

They were ace. Yeah, definitely buy those again.

Going with the butcher's burgers strips

another ?67 off the annual bill.

Right, I've got drinks in here. How did you get on with that beer?

Bin it, bin it, bin it, bin it!

It's a bit gassier than normal, not as much...beeryness.

Do you want to see what it was? Yeah. Alcohol-free.

That blew me up like a balloon, that was horrible!

It was alcohol-free?!

Get rid. No-one will want it!

Not even if I show you the cost difference?

I'd rather do without - that'd save me more!

We thought we might be able to make you healthier,

but we didn't mean to make you unhappier. No!

The Booths decided to keep three quarters of the food we gave them.

No-brainer, we'd keep that, it's good.

They were won round to cheaper brands of cheese and ketchup.

I'm taking it for granted we're keeping this, guys, are we?

Definitely, yeah. Yeah, that's a keeper. Cos that's mental. Yeah.

But the veggie sausages...

HOWARD: Not for me.

..and a few other items were turned down flat.

Are you going to keep this tea? No!

CHRIS: Before you reject it outright... No!

No! Even I'm doing it.

Not listening, not listening!

Nice try, Chris.

Taking into account the foods they liked,

Gregg and Chris have the total of their new weekly shopping bill.

When we first met you, you were spending over ?260 a week.

Can I ask you, how much did you want to save for your extension a week?

40, wasn't it? 160 quid a month.

As much as you can get us. Yeah!

How much do you think we've managed to save you?

20 or 30 a week, I think, so that means... Yeah, yeah.

If we could save you ?40 a week, that could be a life-changing

- amount of money for you? - Yeah.

So we have managed to save you...

an extraordinary...

?74 a week.

Really?!

Just under ?4,000 a year.

Oh, ahh! That's brilliant, yeah.

That's the pay rise I've never had.

This is the tip of the iceberg for us. Hopefully now you've had your

eyes opened, you can take this on and save yourself even more money.

It's limitless.

Life's only going to get better. Yeah.

And you're going to stop hoarding and stocktake... Yes!

I'm down to one tin of anchovies already. Brilliant. I am.

For me, it's the discipline of having a plan and then, I suppose,

once you are shopping,

to look underneath the labels and to try things.

'Yeah. We should try things.'

Yeah, and ignore the special offers, cos Gregg's right -

OK, it might be, you know, two for ?1.50,

but there might be a value brand that's only 50p anyway.

Fancy a beer? Fancy a beer? Oh, thank you, Gregg.

It's thousands a year, so it's significant in anybody's book.

Yeah. Yeah, and...

and we're not worse off for it, you know,

we're actually eating just as well, so, brilliant.

Yay! Well done, brilliant, cheers. To the extension.

Cheers, yeah, the extension. The extension. Thank you.

'We did good.'

That was brilliant. You want to hug me, don't you? I do, why not?

I think that was fantastic.

To be able to save, on your shopping, enough to be able to build

an extension is massive.

They're lovely as well, they really deserve it.

It's going to make a massive difference. Well done, well done.

Brilliant. I'll buy you a pint on the way home. Fantastic. Come on.

The knives are sharpened and the heat is on. It can only mean one thing.

I've never, ever seen that!

Britain's best chefs are back in town.

They're here because they want this title. I'm really excited.

Let's see what they can do.